Russian Atheist Faces Prison Time for Posting 'Nun Porn' to Social Network

A Russian atheist could face prison time for posting "nun porn" to a popular European social media site, RIA Novosti reports.

Prosecutors in Siberia's Tyumen Region said in a statement that Andrei Korablev posted the video to his personal page on VKontakte, a social network that has more than 100 million active users, in November 2011, according to the news agency.

The 40-second video showed "masturbation…featuring a nun," Korablev told news portal Russian Planet, according to RIA Novosti. The 30-year-old also reportedly told the website that "homegrown religious fundamentalists" from the Tyumen City Parental Committee complained about the video as a way to punish him for his involvement with the League of Militant Atheists.

Also known as the Union of Belligerent Atheists and the Society of the Godless, the League of Militant Atheists was formed in the 1920s by the Communist Party to promote nonbelief.

Korablev could spend between two and six years in prison if found guilty of displaying porn publicly through the Internet.

While prosecutors said the video "offended the feelings of religious believers," according to RIA Novosti, they did not indicate he would be charged for insulting religion.

The Russian Parliament unanimously passed a "Blasphemy Law" in June that made "public actions expressing obvious disrespect" and "aimed at offending religious feelings of believers" illegal, according to The Institute on Religion and Public Policy. Such acts are punishable by up to a year in prison, The Institute reports, unless the act is done in a "specially designated place of worship," in which case the punishment could be as much as three years in prison.